Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-28

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The younger sister of one of your friends is thinking about spending a year studying abroad as part of her university course. You did this recently, and she has asked you about your experience.

Write a letter to your friend's sister. In your letter

• tell her where you studied during your year abroad

• describe what you learnt about the country you studied in

• explain why your year abroad was helpful for your studies

Begin your letter as follows:
Dear........,

Student answer (Band 5.0)

dear neha,

i just saw your text about query of studying abroad.i graduated in Loyalist college of canada in 2025,that was the best experience for me.

in the beginning when i came there i was a intovert type person but after spending some their this country helps me to boost my confidence.the best thing i learnt their is that we sould have to speak and listen .In my back country i hesitate to speak with people that s the main reason my communication skills were too bad.Here people deal with a very polite way .

my foreign year was wonderful because in winters canada becomes too cold while on that year the tempratur of that country wasn,t that down that helps me to exlore more things and enhance my skills.if you are going to study abroad that can change your life prospectives.

All the best for your future life neha

your friend.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.0

You address the three requested points: you identify Loyalist College in Canada, describe becoming more confident and learning to communicate politely, and explain that the experience helped you explore and develop skills. However, the country description is quite general, and the explanation of how the year helped your university studies is unclear: the comments about the mild winter and exploring more do not show a specific academic benefit. The opening also refers to a text about studying abroad rather than directly responding to her plans. Develop the learning and study-related benefits with concrete examples, such as a subject or skill that supported your course, and make the advice to Neha more directly relevant.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The letter has a recognisable sequence: you introduce your experience, describe personal changes, and then discuss the year abroad before closing. This gives the reader some overall organisation. However, the progression between ideas is not always clear. For example, the shift from learning to speak and listen to people being polite, and then to the winter weather, feels abrupt; the weather is not clearly connected to the benefit for your studies. Some linking phrases, such as “in the beginning” and “because,” are used, but relationships between points need to be made more explicit. Separate the main points into clear paragraphs and use references such as “This improved my communication, which helped me in seminars” to show how one idea leads to another.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “studying abroad,” “confidence,” “communication skills,” and “explore.” These choices make the general message understandable. However, the range is limited, and several inaccurate or misspelled expressions make parts difficult to follow, such as “query of studying abroad,” “back country,” “that down,” and “life prospectives.” Some phrases also do not express the intended meaning precisely; for instance, “helps me to boost my confidence” is awkward in this past-experience letter. Aim for more natural collocations and check spelling carefully. More precise terms such as “academic skills,” “adapt to a new culture,” and “milder than usual” would help you describe the experience clearly.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.0

You attempt both simple statements and longer sentences, including “In my back country I hesitate to speak with people that’s the main reason my communication skills were too bad.” However, longer constructions are often faulty, and frequent errors in tense, articles, sentence boundaries, and punctuation can make the reader work to understand the message. For example, “i graduated in Loyalist college” does not use the appropriate verb pattern, while “when i came there i was a intovert type person” has problems with article use and sentence structure. Capitalisation is also inconsistent, and several ideas run together without full stops. Practise forming accurate past-tense sentences and separating connected ideas into complete sentences before attempting more complex structures.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

Browse more IELTS Writing model answers or get your own writing scored by the same AI examiner.